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October 2, 2013

Big Bang Signal Picked Up By Astronomers

Using ESA’s Herschel Telescope and the South Pole Telescope, astronomers have found the Cosmic Microwave Background signal – a relic from the Big Bang that was imprinted on the sky when the Universe was a wee 380,000 years old. The radio signal, which is barely detectable at just 2.7 degrees above absolute zero, has been bouncing around space and gives insight into the infancy of our universe. Also exciting was the presence of B-modes – patterns of polarized light that are extremely hard to detect and arise during inflation, a very rapid expansion of our Universe, i.e. the Big Bang, or from the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. Scientists say finding these signals will likely yield critical information about the origins of our universe.